The Beer Can Chicken is a widely popular grilling recipe and most single guy readers are probably familar with it. I think almost everyone has at least heard of it. I’m going to offer my first-hand experience with it, for those who haven’t yet tried it.
The recipe is simple. You take a whole chicken (often times called a fryer chicken), smash a beer can up its butt cavity, and sit it on the grill for awhile. The beer acts as a magical cooking catalyst, delivering tender goodness throughout the chicken.
Sounds simple right? Here’s the breakdown:
Ingredients
- one whole fryer chicken
- one can of beer
- aluminum foil and/or foil disposable cooking sheet
- onion (or a clove of garlic)
- spices - a combo of any of these will do: salt, pepper, cayenne, chili powder, italian spices, etc
Directions
- Take whole fryer chicken, remove from packaging and place in sink
- Go light your grill, putting on medium heat. It will warm up while you are doing the chicken prep.
- Put your trash can beside the sink
- Wash the chicken’s insides, use your hand to remove all innards (heart, and whatever other pieces you find).
- If the neck is hanging out, chop it down.
- Thoroughly wash the chicken inside and out again.
- Turn off water, shake the chicken violently to get most of the water off
- Pat chicken dry with paper towels
- Apply herbs spices, salt pepper etc to outside of chicken. If you can shove some under the skin, thats good.
- Cut down an onion so you can snugly fit it in the neck cavity of the chicken. This will help keep the steam inside the chicken. A clove of garlic can also work here.
- Take a foil cooking pan, or a sheet of aluminum foil with the edges folded up and place on grill.
- Open a beer can (Natural Light preferred) and drink 1/3 of it. Quickly. Chug it. Now go open another beer for you to drink, and set aside the first beer with 2/3 remaining.
- Place first beer on the foil you setup on the grill.
- Carefully wiggle the chicken’s butt cavity down on top of this beer. You should be able to adjust the chicken so it is balanced between its legs and the beer can.
- Grill for approx 1.5hrs until skin is crispy and meat is tender
- Remove chicken from grill, let it rest for a few minutes. Then slice and enjoy!
Grilling notes: I have only done this recipe on a Holland Grill. It is a gas grill but cooks only with indirect heat. It doesn’t have a temperature control but I would guess it is equal to “medium” on most grills. The 1.5hrs is an approximation, I would check to see how it looks after 1.25hrs and expect it could grill until 1.75hrs. (This would be a good time to use a meat thermometer! -Zachary)
DO use aluminum foil or something underneath the chicken on the grill. Otherwise your grill will be pretty messy.
BE careful when removing the bird from the grill as the beer can will be incredibly hot. Don’t try to pull it out with your bare hand, tongs are a good thing.
Science Factor: I’ve read somewhere online that certain components of the beer act as a special catalyst in cooking and tenderizing the chicken. I’m not sure if thats true or if its just the water from the beer makes a steaming effect inside the chicken. Either way, I’ll continue using beer just so I can pretend there is a magical effect. Besides, what else would any self-respecting bachelor use?
I have made this recipe a few times. Each time I’ve been pleased with the results- the chicken turns out very tender and juicy. Leftovers the next day have also been supreme. The best leftovers I’ve ever had in my life were beer can chicken pieces on a Country Style Pillsbury frozen biscuit. No lie. (Living the high life - Zachary)
The good parts:
- Tastes awesome
- Only ~10 min prep work
- Not many ingredients to buy. I get the chicken and an onion at the grocery, everything else I can expect to already have in my minimalistic kitchen.
- Reasonable cost, ~$6 and feeds 4 people.
The only negative points are that this will take well over an hour to grill and its a little messy when you bring it off the grill. To counter this, I recommend cutting it outside.
What do you think?
6 responses so far ↓
1 Raleigh Lawn Service // Jun 3, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I’ve personally seen Mark make beer can chicken and it’s goood stuff.
2 Edmund // Jun 3, 2008 at 7:59 pm
I hate to burst your bubble, but it’s just the moisture. I’ve grilled chicken with beer, ginger ale, orange juice, and several other beverage and they all work well. Each imparts a unique flavor to the meat as well which can make some really good tasting chicken.
The same technique works in the oven, but there will definitely be a cleanup (even if you put the chicken in a Pyrex dish to catch the drippings–as I have done) due to spattering.
3 Zachary // Jun 4, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Good stuff, Mark. I still need to get around to trying this. I have eaten it a few times and its definitely tasty. There’s also something inherently masculine about cooking chicken over a fire with a beer can.
4 mark // Jun 4, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Thanks for the comments.
@Edmund, I agree its mostly the steaming effect keeping the inside of the bird moist at play here, and beer isn’t the key ingredient.
I did some Googling on this subject just now, there are several recipes that just take the beer for granted but here are some interesting links:
This ‘Cooking for Engineers’ article shows a taste test between beer-cooked chicken and regular water steamed chicken. The atuhor reports no difference between the two
I remember seeing an article awhile ago that suggested the yeast in beer was an active ingredient in the chicken cooking.
This article from About.com says that “the yeast and malt found in beer reacts with the chicken, particularly the skin, making it thin and crispy while the meat remains juicy.”
5 obx life // Jun 6, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Yummy!
6 Toxic Avenger // Jun 24, 2008 at 4:35 pm
I’ve been experimenting with whole chickens on the two-burner gas grill, but have yet to do a beer-can. I’ve found grilling the skin for 15 minutes and finishing in a gas oven at 325F results in a juicy bird with very crispy skin. Finishing on the grill at 350F results in not-very-crispy skin, but the juiciest birds I’ve ever made. But I never cook poultry without brining it using kosher salt, enhancing the juiciness.
I will argue the choice of beers, though. A well-hopped beer is a better choice. Think something that is $10 per six pack and only available in bottles. A real pilsner (lots of Saaz hops) would be great for a spice-floral flavor mixed with herbs de provence. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Celebration Ale (when available) would be great with some grapefruit, lemon or lime.
Hey, bachelors cook and bachelorettes eat take out. You want to impress?
Leave a Comment